London is a city constantly re-inventing itself, but every now and then there's a window on to the past. It might be a washed-out advert painted on a wall, a plaque, an architectural quirk or elaborate man-hole cover - all worth recording before they are finally removed or hidden.
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Saturday, 28 March 2009

"...and the barriers are coming down all over Wimbledon"

Hamilton Road, South Wimbledon: After the minor frisson caused by the removal of the advertising hording over the Wimbledon TrueForm sign, I couldn't believe my luck to find that another featured sign had also been exposed to general gaze. I assume that this rash of exposures must be due to the particular time of the fiscal year when rents and rates are due. It might be that the options on these particular sites are not being continued so the frames and all other hardware are being removed. I expect they'll be back again as soon as the economy picks up but for the time being it looks like being a bit of a bonanza time for humble recordist such as myself.

Well here it is, Townsend & Son in its full glory. Or rather full grubby - it looks as though it could do with a good rain-storm or two to wash away the grime. I like the Hosiers & Hatters legend though - in other words, 'from tip to tail'...!

3 comments:

Hey Yelfy,Nice spot, do you think it will stay down or are they going to replace it with one of those new digital display signs?It's be good to include this sign in my new UK Ghost Signs archive project...Cheers,Sam

Thanks for letting us know! The name Townsend was easy to guess, but I always wondered what was could be writtten underneath it. I shall go and take a picture later on today or tomorrow.Looking forward to the next post!

Sam - I couldn't really tell to be honest. I wonder though if it would be the best place to site a much larger hoarding as the buildings on the opposite corner would obscure a full view until you are almost on top of it. It is by a crossing though so I suppose they might consider it worthwhile with stationary traffic. It's quite a handsome sign though and a good late-example for the archive I'd of thought.Sebastien - as we've had some rain since I took the picture you may be lucky and find that it's washed away some of the grime. Good luck!

Welcome!

I hope you enjoy the opportunity to have a slightly closer look at some of those items of 'street furniture' that are often overlooked, especially if you live in the South West part of London. My real interest are those faded advertisement and shop names that used to proliferate on the sides of buildings and which are now faded and peeling and only rarely glimpsed peeking out from behind their modern replacements. But it doesn't do to be too selective so I'm happy to include anything odd, old or quirky that catches my eye!

Ghost Signs of South West London - The Map (I recommend you use the 'View Larger Map' button below)